Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N—ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N10/00—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects
  • H10N10/10—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects operating with only the Peltier or Seebeck effects
  • H10N10/17—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects operating with only the Peltier or Seebeck effects characterised by the structure or configuration of the cell or thermocouple forming the device
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
  • F25B21/00—Machines, plants or systems, using electric or magnetic effects
  • F25B21/02—Machines, plants or systems, using electric or magnetic effects using Peltier effect; using Nernst-Ettinghausen effect
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N—ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N10/00—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects
  • H10N10/01—Manufacture or treatment
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N—ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N10/00—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects
  • H10N10/10—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects operating with only the Peltier or Seebeck effects
  • H10N10/13—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects operating with only the Peltier or Seebeck effects characterised by the heat-exchanging means at the junction
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N—ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10N10/00—Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects
  • H10N10/80—Constructional details
  • H10N10/82—Connection of interconnections
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
  • B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
  • B82Y40/00—Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures

Definitions

• the present invention relates to thermoelectric devices for, for example, cooling substances such as integrated circuit chips, and more particularly, although not exclusively, the present invention relates to thermoelectric coolers .
• vapor compression coolers to cool the computer. These vapor compression coolers perform essentially the same as the central air conditioning units used in many homes .
• vapor compression coolers are quite mechanically complicated requiring insulation and hoses that must run to various parts of the main frame in order to cool the particular areas that are most susceptible to decreased performance due to overheating.
• thermoelectric coolers utilize a physical principle known as the Peltier Effect, by which DC current from a power source is applied across two dissimilar materials causing heat to be absorbed at the junction of the two dissimilar materials. Thus, the heat is removed from a hot substance and may be transported to a heat sink to be dissipated, thereby cooling the hot substance .
• Thermoelectric coolers may be fabricated within an integrated circuit chip and may cool specific hot spots directly without the need for complicated mechanical systems as is required by vapor compression coolers. However, current thermoelectric coolers are not as efficient as vapor compression coolers requiring more power to be expended to achieve the same amount of cooling.
• thermoelectric coolers are not capable of cooling substances as greatly as vapor compression coolers. Therefore, a thermoelectric cooler with improved efficiency and cooling capacity would be desirable so that complicated vapor compression coolers could be eliminated from small refrigeration applications, such as, for example, main frame computers, thermal management of hot chips, RF communication circuits, magnetic read/write heads, optical and laser devices, and automobile refrigeration systems.
• thermoelectric device includes a first portion of a thermoelement and a second portion of the thermoelement.
• the first portion of the thermoelement is thermally coupled to a hot plate.
• the second portion of a thermoelement is thermally coupled to a cold plate.
• One of the first and second portions of the thermoelement comprises a plurality of tips, and the other one of the first and second portions of the thermoelement comprises a substantially planar surface. The tips and the substantially planar surface are arranged in proximity such that the first and second portions of the thermoelement are electrically coupled.
• thermoelectric device comprising: a first portion of a thermoelement thermally coupled to a hot plate; and a second portion of a thermoelement thermally coupled to a cold plate; wherein one of the two portions of the thermoelement comprises a plurality of tips and the other one of the two portions of the thermoelement comprises a substantially planar surface; and wherein the plurality of tips and the substantially planar surface are arranged in proximity to provide electrical coupling.
• thermoelement for use in a thermoelectric device, the thermoelement comprising: a first portion of thermoelectric material having a substantially planar surface; and a second portion of thermoelectric material having a plurality of tips; wherein the plurality of tips are proximate to the substantially planar surface such that an electrically conductive path exists between the first and second portions of the thermoelectric material .
• FIG. 1 depicts a high-level block diagram of a Thermoelectric Cooling (TEC) device in accordance with the prior art
• FIG. 2 depicts a cross sectional view of a thermoelectric cooler with enhanced structured interfaces in accordance with the present invention
• FIG 3 depicts a planer view of thermoelectric cooler 200 in Figure 2 in accordance with the present invention
• FIGS 4A and 4B depicts cross sectional views of tips that may be implemented as one of tips 250 in Figure 2 in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 5 depicts a cross sectional view illustrating the temperature field of a tip near to a superlattice in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 6 depicts a cross sectional view of a thermoelectric cooler with enhanced structured interfaces with all metal tips in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 7 depicts a cross-sectional view of a sacrificial silicon template for forming all metal tips in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 8 depicts a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of producing all metal cones using a silicon sacrificial template in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 9 depicts a cross sectional view of all metal cones formed using patterned photoresist in accordance with the present invention.
• Figure 10 depicts a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of forming all metal cones using photoresist in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 11 depicts a cross-sectional view of a thermoelectric cooler with enhanced structural interfaces in which the thermoelectric material rather than the metal conducting layer is formed into tips at the interface in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 12 depicts a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of fabricating a thermoelectric cooler in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 13 depicts a cross-sectional diagram illustrating the positioning of photoresist necessary to produce tips in a thermoelectric material ;
• Figure 14 depicts a diagram showing a cold point tip above a surface for use in a thermoelectric cooler illustrating the positioning of the tip relative to the surface in accordance with the present invention.
• Figure 15 depicts a schematic diagram of a thermoelectric power generator.
• FIG. 1 A high-level block diagram of a Thermoelectric Cooling (TEC) device in accordance with the prior art is depicted in Figure 1.
• Thermoelectric cooling a well known principle, is based on the Peltier Effect, in which DC current is applied across two dissimilar materials causing heat to be absorbed at the junction of the two dissimilar materials.
• thermoelectric cooling device 100 utilizes p-type semiconductor 104 and n-type semiconductor 106 sandwiched between poor electrical conductors 108, that have good heat conducting properties, and electrical conductors 110 and 114.
• N-type semiconductor 106 has an excess of electrons, while p-type semiconductor 104 has a deficit of electrons.
• a DC power source 102 is connected between the two electrical conductors 114.
• thermoelectric cooler 100 The coefficient of performance, ⁇ , of a cooling refrigerator, such as thermoelectric cooler 100, is the ratio of the cooling capacity of the refrigerator divided by the total power consumption of the refrigerator.
• the coefficient of performance is given by the equation:
• the term lT c is due to the thermoelectric cooling
• the term %I Z R is due to Joule heating backflow
• the term K ⁇ T is due to thermal conduction
• the term I 2 R is due to Joule loss
• the term al ⁇ T is due to work done against the Peltier voltage
• a is the Seebeck coefficient for the material
• K is the thermal conductivity of the Peltier device
• T a is the temperature of the heat source
• ⁇ T is the difference in the temperature of the heat source from T h the temperature of the heat sink.
• the maximum coefficient of performance is derived by optimizing the current, I, and is given by the following relation:
• ff is the electrical conductivity and ⁇ is the thermal conductivity.
• thermoelectric cooler refrigerators where thermal conductivity ⁇ is composed of two components: ⁇ e , the component due to electrons, and __, the component due to the lattice and T is the mean of temperatures T c and T h . Therefore, the maximum efficiency, ⁇ , is achieved as the figure of merit, ZT, approaches infinity.
• the efficiency of vapor compressor refrigerators is approximately 0.3.
• the efficiency of conventional thermoelectric coolers, such as thermoelectric cooler 100 in Figure 1 is typically less than 0.1. Therefore, to increase the efficiency of thermoelectric coolers to such a range as to compete with vapor compression refrigerators, the figure of merit, ZT, must be increased to greater than 2. If a value for the figure of merit, ZT, of greater than 2 can be achieved, then the thermoelectric coolers may be staged to achieve the same efficiency and cooling capacity as vapor compression refrigerators.
• thermoelectric cooler 200 includes a heat source 226 from which, with current I flowing as indicated, heat is extracted and delivered to heat sink 202.
• Heat source 226 may be thermally coupled to a substance that is desired to be cooled.
• Heat sink 202 may be thermally coupled to devices such as, for example, a heat pipe, fins, and/or a condensation unit to dissipate the heat removed from heat source 226 and/or further cool heat source 226.
• Heat source 226 is comprised of p- type doped silicon. Heat source 226 is thermally coupled to n+ type doped silicon regions 224 and 222 of tips 250. N+ type regions 224 and 222 are electrical conducting as well as being good thermal conductors. Each of N+ type regions 224 and 222 forms a reverse diode with heat source 226 such that no current flows between heat source 226 and n+ regions 224 and 222, thus providing the electrical isolation of heat source 226 from electrical conductors 218 and 220.
• Heat sink 202 is comprised of p- type doped silicon. Heat sink 202 is thermally coupled to n+ type doped silicon regions 204 and 206. N+ type regions 204 and 206 are electrically conducting and good thermal conductors. Each of N+ type regions 204 and 206 and heat sink 202 forms a reverse diode so that no current flows between the N+ type regions 204 and 206 and heat sink 202, thus providing the electrical isolation of heat sink 202 from electrical conductor 208. More information about electrical isolation of thermoelectric coolers may be found in U.S. Patent No.
• n+ and p+ refer to highly n doped and highly p doped semiconducting material respectively.
• n- and p- mean lightly n doped and lightly p doped semiconducting material respectively.
• Thermoelectric cooler 200 is similar in construction to thermoelectric cooler 100 in Figure 1. However, N-type 106 and P-type 104 semiconductor structural interfaces have been replaced with superlattice thermoelement structures 210 and 212 that are electrically coupled by electrical conductor 208. Electrical conductor 208 may be formed from platinum (Pt) or, alternatively, from other conducting materials, such as, for example, tungsten (W) , nickel (Ni) , or titanium copper nickel (Ti/Cu/Ni) metal films.
• a superlattice is a structure consisting of alternating layers of two different semiconductor materials, each several nanometers thick.
• Thermoelement 210 is constructed from alternating layers of N-type semiconducting materials and the superlattice of thermoelement 212 is constructed from alternating layers of P-type semiconducting materials.
• Each of the layers of alternating materials in each of thermoelements 210 and 212 is 10 nanometers (nm) thick.
• a superlattice of two semiconducting materials has lower thermal conductivity, ⁇ , and the same electrical conductivity, ⁇ , as an alloy comprising the same two semiconducting materials .
• superlattice thermoelement 212 comprises alternating layers of p-type bismuth chalcogenide materials such as, for example, alternating layers of Bi 2 Te 3 /Sb 2 Te 3 with layers of Bi 0 , 5 Sb ⁇ . s Te 3
• the superlattice of thermoelement 210 comprises alternating layers of n-type bismuth chalcogenide materials, such as, for example, alternating layers of Bi 2 Te 3 with layers of Bi 2 Se 3 .
• Other types of semiconducting materials may be used for superlattices for thermoelements 210 and 212 as well.
• the superlattices of thermoelements 210 and 212 may be constructed from cobalt antimony skutteridite materials.
• Thermoelectric cooler 200 also includes tips 250 through which electrical current I passes into ⁇ thermoelement 212 and then from thermoelement 210 into conductor 218.
• Tips 250 includes n+ type semiconductor 222 and 224 formed into pointed conical structures with a thin overcoat layer 218 and 220 of conducting material, such as, for example, platinum (Pt) .
• conducting material such as, for example, platinum (Pt) .
• Other conducting materials that may be used in place of platinum include, for example, tungsten (W) , nickel (Ni) , and titanium copper nickel (Ti/Cu/Ni) metal films.
• the areas between and around the tips 250 and thermoelectric materials 210 and 212 should be evacuated or hermetically sealed with a gas such as, for example, dry nitrogen.
• a thin layer of semiconducting material 214 and 216 On the ends of tips 250 covering the conducting layers 218 and 220 is a thin layer of semiconducting material 214 and 216.
• Layer 214 is formed from a P-type material having the same Seebeck coefficient, , as the nearest layer of the superlattice of thermoelement 212 to tips 250.
• Layer 216 is formed from an N-type material having the same Seebeck coefficient, , as the nearest layer of thermoelement 210 to tips 250.
• the P-type thermoelectric overcoat layer 214 is necessary for thermoelectric cooler 200 to function since cooling occurs in the region near the metal- here the electrons and holes are generated.
• the n-type thermoelectric overcoat layer 216 is beneficial, because maximum cooling occurs where the gradient (change) of the Seebeck coefficient is maximum.
• thermoelectric overcoat 214 for the P-type region is approximately 60 nm thick.
• a specific thickness of the n-type thermoelectric overcoat 216 has yet to be fully refined, but it is anticipated that it should be in a similar thickness range to the thickness of the thermoelectric overcoat 214.
• Lattice thermal conductivity, ⁇ , at the point of tips 250 is very small because of lattice mismatch.
• the thermal conductivity, ⁇ , of bismuth chalcogenides is normally approximately 1 Watt/meter*Kelvin.
• the thermal conductivity is reduced, due to lattice mismatch at the point, to approximately 0.2 Watts/meter*Kelvin.
• the electrical conductivity of the thermoelectric materials remains relatively unchanged. Therefore, the figure of merit, ZT, may be increased to greater than 2.5 for this kind of material.
• thermoelements 210 and 212 Another type of material that is possible for the superlattices of thermoelements 210 and 212 is cobalt antimony skutteridites. These type of materials typically have a very high thermal conductivity, ⁇ , making them normally undesirable. However, by using the pointed tips 250, the thermal conductivity can be reduced to a minimum and produce a figure of merit, ZT, for these materials of greater than 4, thus making these materials very attractive for use in thermoelements 210 and 212. Therefore, the use of pointed tips 250 further increases the efficiency of the thermoelectric cooler 200 such that it is comparable to vapor compression refrigerators.
• Another advantage of the cold point structure is that the electrons are confined to dimensions smaller than the wavelength (corresponding to their kinetic energy) . This type of confinement increases the local density of states available for transport and effectively increases the Seebeck coefficient. Thus, by increasing " and decreasing 8, the figure of merit ZT is increased.
• thermoelectric cooler 200 Normal cooling capacity of conventional thermoelectric coolers, such as illustrated in Figure 1, are capable .of producing a temperature differential, ⁇ T , between the heat source and the heat sink of around 60 Kelvin.
• thermoelectric cooler 200 is capable of producing a temperature differential of the order of 150 Kelvin.
• thermoelements 210 and 212 different materials may need to be used for thermoelements 210 and 212.
• bismuth telluride has a very low at low temperature (i.e. less than -100 degrees Celsius) .
• bismuth antimony alloys perform well at low temperature.
• cobalt antimony skutteridite materials over the bismuth chalcogenide materials, not related to temperature, is the fact that the cobalt antimony skutteridite materials are structurally more stable whereas the bismuth chalcogenide materials are structurally weak.
• thermoelectric cooler in Figure 2 may vary depending on the implementation. For example, more or fewer rows of tips 250 may be included than depicted in Figure 1. The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention.
• thermoelectric cooler 300 includes an n-type thermoelectric material section 302 and a p-type thermoelectric material section 304. Both n-type section 302 and p-type section 304 include a thin layer of conductive material 306 that covers a silicon body.
• Section 302 includes an array of conical tips 310 each covered with a thin layer of n-type material 308 of the same type as the nearest layer of the superlattice for thermoelement 210.
• Section 304 includes an array of conical tips 312 each covered with a thin layer of p-type material 314 of the same type as the nearest layer of the superlattice for thermoelement 212.
• Tip 400 includes a silicon cone that has been formed with a cone angle of approximately 35 degrees.
• a thin layer 404 of conducting material, such as platinum (Pt) overcoats the silicon 402.
• a thin layer of thermoelectric material 406 covers the very end of the tip 400.
• the cone angle after all layers have been deposited is approximately 45 degrees.
• the effective tip radius of tip 400 is approximately 50 nanometers.
• Tip 408 is an alternative embodiment of a tip, such as one of tips 250.
• Tip 408 includes a silicon cone 414 with a conductive layer 412 and thermoelectric material layer 410 over the point.
• tip 408 has a much sharper cone angle than tip 400.
• the effective tip radius of tip 408 is approximately 10 nanometers. It is not known at this time whether a broader or narrower cone angle for the tip is preferable.
• conical angles of 45 degrees for the tip as depicted in Figure 4A, have been chosen, since such angle is in the middle of possible ranges of cone angle and because such formation is easily formed with silicon with a platinum overcoat. This is because a KOH etch along the 100 plane of silicon naturally forms a cone angle of 54 degrees.
• the cone angle is approximately 45 degrees.
• Tip 504 may be implemented as one of tips 250 in Figure 2.
• Tip 504 has an effective tip radius, a, of 30-50 nanometers.
• the temperature field is localized to a very small distance, r, approximately equal to 2a or around 60-100 nanometers. Therefore, a superlattice 502 needs to be only a few layers thick with a thickness, d, of around 100 nanometers. Therefore, using pointed tips, a thermoelectric cooler with only 5-10 layers for the superlattice is sufficient .
• thermoelectric cooler 200 is not extremely time consuming, since only a few layers of the superlattice must be formed rather than numerous layers which can be very time consuming.
• thermoelectric cooler 200 can be fabricated very thin (of the order of 100 nanometers thick) in contrast to prior art thermoelectric coolers which were of the order of 3 millimeters or greater in thickness .
• thermoelectric cooler with pointed tip interfaces in accordance with the present invention include minimization of the thermal conductivity of the thermoelements, such as thermoelements 210 and 212 in Figure 2, at the tip interfaces. Also, the temperature/potential drops are localized to an area near the tips, effectively achieving scaling to sub-100-nanometer lengths. Furthermore, using pointed tips minimizes the number of layers for superlattice growth by effectively reducing the thermoelement lengths.
• the present invention also permits electrodeposition of thin film structures and avoids flip-chip bonds. The smaller dimensions allow for monolithic integration of n-type and p-type thermoelements.
• the thermoelectric cooler of the present invention may be utilized to cool items, such as, for example, specific spots within a main frame computer, lasers, optic electronics, photodetectors, and PCR in genetics.
• thermoelectric cooler 600 is identical to thermoelectric cooler 200 in all other respects, including having a thermoelectric overcoat 216 and 214 over the tips 650.
• Thermoelectric cooler 600 also provides the same benefits as thermoelectric cooler 200. However, by using all metal cones rather than silicon cones covered with conducting material, the parasitic resistances within the cones become very low, thus further increasing the efficiency of thermoelectric cooler 600 over the already increased efficiency of thermoelectric cooler 200.
• the areas surrounding tips 650 and between tips 650 and thermoelectric materials 210 and 212 should be vacuum or hermetically sealed with a gas, such as, for example, dry nitrogen.
• heat source 226 is comprised of p- type doped silicon.
• heat source 226 is thermally coupled to n+ type doped silicon regions 624 and 622 that do not form part of the tipped structure 650 rather than to regions that do form part of the tipped structure as do regions 224 and 222 do in Figure 2.
• N+ type doped silicon regions 624 and 622 do still perform the electrical isolation function performed by regions 224 and 222 in Figure 2.
• FIG. 7 a cross-sectional view of a sacrificial silicon template that may be used for forming all metal tips is depicted in accordance with the present invention.
• a layer of metal may be deposited over the template 702 to produce all metal cones 704. All metal cones 704 may then be used in thermoelectric cooler 600.
• Figure 8 a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of producing all metal cones using a silicon sacrificial template is depicted in accordance with the present invention.
• conical pits are fabricated by anisotropic etching of silicon to create a mold (step 802) . This may be done by a combination of KOH etching, oxidation, and/or focused ion-beam etching. Such techniques of fabricating a silicon cone are well known in the art.
• the silicon sacrificial template is then coated with a thin sputtered layer of seed metal, such as, for example, titanium or platinum (step 804) .
• seed metal such as, for example, titanium or platinum
• Titanium is preferable since platinum forms slightly more rounded tips than titanium, which is very conforming to the conical pits.
• copper is electrochemically deposited to fill the valleys (conical pits) in the sacrificial silicon template, (step 806).
• the top surface of the copper is then planarized (step 808) . Methods of planarizing a layer of metal are well known in the art.
• the silicon substrate is then removed by selective etching methods well known in the art (step 810) .
• the all metal cones produced in this manner may then be covered with a coat of another metal, such as, for example, nickel or titanium and then with an ultra-thin layer of thermoelectric material.
• another metal such as, for example, nickel or titanium
• the nickel or titanium overcoat aids in electrodeposition of the thermoelectric material overcoat .
• One advantage to this method of producing all metal cones is that the mold that is produced is reusable .
• the mold may be reused up to around 10 times before the mold degrades and becomes unusable.]
• Forming a template in this manner is very well controlled and produces very uniform all metal conical tips since silicon etching is very predictable and can calculate slopes of the pits and sharpness of the cones produced to a very few nanometers .
• FIG. 9 a cross sectional view of all metal cones 902 formed using patterned photoresist is depicted in accordance with the present invention.
• a layer of metal is formed over the bottom portions of a partially fabricated thermoelectric cooler.
• a patterned photoresist 904-908 is then used to fashion all metal cones 902 with a direct electrochemical etching method.
• thermoelectric cooler 600 a partially fabricated thermoelectric cooler, such as thermoelectric cooler 600, in Figure 6
• the photoresist may be patterned in an array of sections having photoresist wherein each area of photoresist within the array corresponds to areas in which tips to the all metal cones are desired to be formed.
• the metal is then directly etched electrochemically (step 1004) to produce cones 902 as depicted in Figure 9.
• the photoresist is then removed and the tips of the all metal cones may then be coated with another metal, such as, for example, nickel (step 1006) .
• the second metal coating over the all metal cones may then be coated with an ultra-thin layer of thermoelectric material (step 1008) .
• all metal cones with a thermoelectric layer on the tips may be formed which may used in a thermoelectric device, such as, for example, thermoelectric cooler 600.
• the all metal conical points produced in this manner are not as uniform as those produced using the method illustrated in Figure 8. However, this method currently is cheaper and therefore, if cost is an important factor, may be a more desirable method.
• thermoelectric cooler 1100 includes a cold plate 1116 and a hot plate 1102 , wherein the cold plate is in thermal contact with the substance that is to be cooled.
• Thermal conductors 1114 and 1118 provide a thermal couple between electrical conducting plates 1112 and 1120 respectively.
• Thermal conductors 1114 and 1118 are constructed of heavily n doped (n+) semiconducting material that provides electrical isolation between cold plate 1116 and conductors 1112 and 1120 by forming reverse biased diodes with the p- material of the cold plate 1116.
• thermal conductor 1104 provides a thermal connection between electrical conducting plate 1108 and hot plate 1102, while maintaining electrical isolation between the hot plate and electrical conducting plate 1108 by forming a reverse biased diode with the hot plate 1102 p- doped semiconducting material as discussed above.
• Thermal conductors 1104 is also an n+ type doped semiconducting material. Electrical conducting plates 1108, 1112, and 1120 are constructed from platinum (Pt) in this embodiment.
• tips 1130-1140 and between tips 1130-1140 and thermoelectric materials 1122 and 1110 should be evacuated to produce a vacuum or should be hermetically sealed with a gas, such as, for example, dry nitrogen.
• thermoelectric material rather than providing contact between the thermoelements and the heat source (cold end) metal electrode (conductor) through an array of points in the metal electrode as in Figures 2 and 6, the array of points of contact between the thermoelement and the metal electrode is provided by an array of points 1130-1140 in the thermoelements 1124 and 1126.
• the metal electrode at the cold end was formed over silicon tips or alternatively metal patterns were directly etched to form all-metal tips.
• thermoelectric materials to be deposited over the cold and the hot electrodes by electrochemical methods.
• the electrodeposited materials tend to be polycrystalline and do not have ultra-planar surfaces.
• the surface thermoelectric properties may or may not be superior to single crystalline thermoelectric materials.
• the tips 1130-1140 of the present embodiment may be formed from single crystal or polycrystal thermoelectric materials by electrochemical etching.
• thermoelement 1124 is comprised of a super lattice of single crystalline Bi 2 Te 3 /Sb 2 Te 3 and Bi o . 5 Sb 1 . 5 Te 3 and thermoelement 1126 is formed of a super lattice of single crystalline Bi 2 Te 3 /Bi 2 Se 3 and Bi 2 Te 2 . 0 Se 0 . ⁇ .
• Electrically conducting plate 1120 is coated with a thin layer 1122 of the same thermoelectric material as is the material of the tips 1130-1134 that are nearest thin layer 1120.
• Electrically conducting plate 1112 is coated with a thin layer 1110 of the same thermoelectric material as is the material of the tips 1136-1140 that are nearest thin layer 1112.
• thermoelectric cooler 1100 in Figure 11 a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of fabricating a thermoelectric cooler, such as, for example, thermoelectric cooler 1100 in Figure 11, is depicted in accordance with the present invention.
• Optimized single crystal material are first bonded to metal electrodes by conventional means or metal electrodes are deposited onto single crystal materials to form the electrode connection pattern (step 1202) .
• the other side of the thermoelectric material 1314 is then patterned (step 1204) by photoresist 1302-1306 as depicted in Figure 13 and metal electrodes are used in an electrochemical bath as an anode to electrochemically etch the surface (step 1206) .
• the tips 1308-1312.as depicted in Figure 13 are formed by controlling and stopping the etching process at appropriate times.
• a second single crystal substrate is thinned by chemical-mechanical polishing and then electrochemically etching the entire substrate to nanometer films (step 1210) .
• the second substrate with the ultra-thin substrate forms the cold end and the two substrates (the one with the ultra-thin thermoelectric material and the other with the thermoelectric tips) are clamped together with pressure (step 1212) .
• This structure retains high crystallinity in all regions other than the interface at the tips.
• the same method can be used to fabricate polycrystalline structures rather than single crystalline structures.
• FIG 14 a diagram showing a cold point tip above a surface for use in a thermoelectric cooler illustrating the positioning of the tip relative to the surface is depicted in accordance with the present invention.
• the tips whether created in as all-metal or metal coated tips or as thermoelectric tips have been described thus far as being in contact with the surface opposite the tips.
• the tips may be in contact with the opposing surface, it is preferable that the tips be near the opposing surface without touching the surface as depicted in Figure 14.
• the tip 1402 in Figure 14 is situated near the opposing surface 1404 but is not in physical contact with the opposing surface.
• the tip 1402 should be a distance d on the order of 5 nanometers or less from the opposing surface 1404.
• some of the tips may be in contact with the opposing surface while others are not in contact due to the deviations from a perfect plane of the opposing surface .
• thermoelectric cooler By removing the tips from contact with the opposing surface, the amount of thermal conductivity between the cold plate and the hot plate of a thermoelectric cooler may be reduced. Electrical conductivity is maintained, however, due to tunneling of electrons between the tips and the opposing surface.
• the tips of the present invention have also been described and depicted primarily as perfectly pointed tips. However, as illustrated in Figure 14, the tips in practice will typically have a slightly more rounded tip as is the case with tip 1402. However, the closer to perfectly pointed the tip is, the fewer number of superlattices needed to achieve the temperature gradient between the cool temperature of the tip and the hot temperature of the hot plate .
• the radius of curvature r 0 of the curved end of the tip 1402 is of the order of a few tens of nanometers.
• the temperature difference between adjacent areas of the thermoelectric material below surface 1404 approaches zero over a distance of two (2) to three (3) times the radius of curvature r 0 of the end of tip 1402. Therefore, only a few layers of the super lattice 1406-1414 are necessary.
• a superlattice material opposite the tips is feasible when the electrical contact between the hot and cold plates is made using the tips of the present invention.
• thermoelectric cooling device or Peltier device
• the present invention may be utilized for generation of electricity as well .
• thermoelectric devices can be used either in the Peltier mode (as described above) for refrigeration or in the Seebeck mode for electrical power generation.
• Figure 15 a schematic diagram of a thermoelectric power generator is depicted.
• thermoelectric power generator according to the prior art is depicted rather than a thermoelectric power generator utilizing cool point tips of the present invention.
• the thermoelements 1506 and 1504 are replaced by cool point tips, as for example, any of the cool point tip embodiments as described in greater detail above.
• thermoelectric power generator 1500 rather than running current through the thermoelectric device from a power source 102 as indicated in Figure 1, a temperature differential, T H -T L , is created across the thermoelectric device 1500.
• T H -T L induces a current flow, I, as indicated in Figure 15 through a resistive load element 1502. This is the opposite mode of operation from the mode of operation described in Figure 1
• thermoelectric device 1500 is identical in components to thermoelectric device 102 in Figure 1.
• thermoelectric cooling device 1500 utilizes p-type semiconductor 1504 and n-type semiconductor 1506 sandwiched between poor electrical conductors 1508 that have good heat conducting properties.
• elements 1504, 1506, and 1508 correspond to elements 104, 106, and 108 respectively in Figure 1.
• Thermoelectric device 1500 also includes electrical conductors 1510 and 1514 corresponding to electrical conductors 110 and 114 in Figure 1. More information about thermoelectric electric power generation may be found in CRC Handbook of Thermoelectrics , edited by D. M.
• the present invention has been described primarily with reference to conically shaped tips, however, other shapes of tips may be utilized as well, such as, for example, pyramidically shaped tips.
• the shape of the tip does not need to be symmetric or uniform as long as it provides a discrete set of substantially pointed tips through which electrical conduction between the two ends of a thermoelectric cooler may be provided.
• the present invention has applications to use in any small refrigeration application, such as, for example, cooling main " frame computers, thermal management of hot chips and RF communication circuits, cooling magnetic heads for disk drives, automobile refrigeration, and cooling optical and laser devices.

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